Bill-file.



no. 794,993. I PATBNTED JULY 18. 1905. e. H. MAURER.

BILL FILE.-

APPLIGATIOH FILED MAR. 29, 190k 311 man '01 6277 figaurer. I

attorney Patented July 18, 1905.

GEORGE H. MAURERJO F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BILL-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,993, dated July 18, 1905. Application filed March 29, 1904. Serial No. 200,630.

separate them alphabetically by interposed removable sliding flexible strips of fabric such as paper, linen, or other suitable fabric' that will receive printed letters on the surfaces of their exposed ends, said sliding strips being removably connected, preferably, by metal eyes, which assist in forming loops when the flexible strip has been passed through them to form the loops around a side guidewire projected from the left edge of said fileback, spring controlled clamping rods connected with the upper end edge of said fileback, notched jaws secured to the lower end edge of said file-back and adapted to engage with the left side clamping-rod, the right side clamping-rod having a laterally-extending bend near its lower end terminating in an integral pro ection and a double hook having longer and shorter oppositely-bended yielding arms or spring-hooks having an open space between their opposed faces, said open space being circumscribed by the opposing faces of said bended yielding arms in order that the projecting end of the right side clamping-rod may be engaged by either the shorter or longer flexible hook or may be primarily forced into the space between the opposing faces of said spring-hooks or yielding hooks, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

1n the drawings hereto annexed and forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a bill-file and the accompanying removable and slidable index connected therewith. .Fig. 2 is an end elevation taken from the lower end of said bill-file. Fig. 3 is a detached view showing a portion of the side guide-rod with one of the index-strips broken and looped at its attaching end to the side guide-rod, which is also shown in section.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the file-back proper, which is substantially rectangular in form and is preferably made of wood strips joined together at their meeting edges in the manner commonly practiced in making this class of bill-files. Y

2 and 3 are clamping-rods for holding the papers, letters, &c., upon the face of the fileback. At their upper inwardly-bent and approaching terminals each of said clampingrods 2 and 3 are provided with integral (preferably) coils or sleeves 1 and 5.

A staple 6, provided with a middle or central half-loop 7, has its integral oppositely- I projecting arms 8 9 passed through the separate integral coils or sleeves 4 5 and terminates in angularly or downwardly bent points 10 11, driven into the upper end edge of the file-back at about the middle third of the length of said upper end edge of said fileback, thereby connecting said clamping-rods 2 3 to the upper end of said file-back.

The left clamping-rod 2 extends longitudinally of the face of said file-back and terminates in a projecting finger-piece 12, which is formed, preferably, by bending the wire of which said clamping-rod 2 is formed upon itself and extending it upwardly or returning it along itself to form two thicknesses of said wire at the point where it engages the notches 13 of the holding and releasing plate 16. The

notches 13 are upon inner sides of the jaws 16 of plate 16, so that the clamping-rod 2 may be shifted from either notch to one of the others, as circumstances require, whether the papers, letters, &c., on the file be few or many. The return portion 16, forming part of the fingerpiece 12, acts as a guard and temporarily retains the rod 2 in the notch into which it has been placed, while by drawing upon the finger-piece in the longitudinal direction the finger-piece 12 may be released from its engaging notch and placed into either of the others, or it may be lifted entirely free from the retaining-jaw and swung upwardly away from its clamping position in order that the papers may be entirely removed from the file-back. The clampingrod 3 is similar in construction so far as its top coil is concerned; but near its lower end it is provided with a horizontally-projecting outward or lateral return-bend 19, having a projecting end 20, which, however, does not extend below the lower end edge of the fileback. The object of the return-bend 19 is to form a finger-piece by which the operator may grasp and manipulate the rod 8 to release the same from contact with the bills, letters, or the like resting on the file-back, so that papers, &c., may be readily inserted to place on the bill-file by employing the interchangeable slidable index-strips.

Quite near the lower end edge of the fileback is provided a double hook-piece having one short hook 21 extending inwardly and a longer or more extended hook 22 curved in the opposite direction, both hooks extending laterally of the board or file-back and secured thereto by screws or otherwise, a space 23 being left between the opposing faces of said hooks in order that the projecting end 20 may not only be engaged with either the longer or shorter hook, but may also be forced down between the spring-hooks into the space between them, so that it may be brought down as nearly as practicable to the upper face of the file-back in order to secure a single letter-or bill thereon or several bills or letters thereon before it becomes necessary to utilize either hook-arm.

The slidable, insertible, and interchangeable index-strips 2a are flexible and are engaged with the guide-wire 27 at their left ends by stapled loops 30,so that they may be movable longitudinally of said wire 27, while their indexed-ends extend across the face of the fileback and project slightly beyond the right side edges of the papers or bills filed thereon. The stop-clamps 25 26 (illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2) are formed each from a single piece of wire and having upper and lower parallel arms, the lower arm of each being journaled in a seat extending from the outer edge of said file-back inwardly and laterally for a short distance, so that said stop-clamps may be turned from nearly horizontal positions to any positions between their nearly-horizontal positions to vertical positions with relation to said file-back. In their vertical positions or in their intermediate position they serve as stops, but when turned down uponthe papers on the file-back they serve also as clamps to hold the left side edges of the bills or papers upon said file-backs.

The rod 2 serves as a backing or binding arm when closed, and the rod 3 serves also as a binder for what may be termed the free edges of the bills, letters, &c., and as the index-letters are projected at the right side of the clamped matter any letter of the index may be selected and the index-strips lifted when the rod 6 has been raised to select any letter or bill that may have been properly indexed by the manipulator of the bill-file.

' It should be borne in mind that the rods 2 and 3 are not interchangeable rods, the rod 3 being employed to permit the ready turning of the letters or bills and lifting of any desired letter of the movable slidable index, while the rod 2 serves more particularly as a clamp or backing for a book formed of the separate bills and letters. Fu rthermore,while the rod 2 may be raised to release the bills this is but one of its functions, and it is neither intended or designed to conveniently inspect the bills, &c., from the left side of the billfile, as the device is intended to be used in book form until such times as accumulation requires removal of the bills or letters from the file.

As is obvious, the slidable, insertible, and removable index-strips may be shifted to accommodate the bill-file to the accumulation of matter coming under a certain letter, and as the bill-file is but a temporary file the usefulness or utility of the removable, shiftable, or slidable indexes is apparent.

-Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a bill-file of the character described, the combination with a file-back of two clamping-rods hinged at their upper ends to the upper end of the file-back and engaged with releasing-catches at the lower end of said fileback; a guide-wire at the left edge of said file-back; and slidable interchangeable indexstrips connected with said guide-wire, substantially as specified.

2. In a bill-file of the character described, the combination with the file-back, the clamping-rods,and the securing and releasingcatches at, or near, thelower end edge of said file-back, of the side guide-rod and removable slidable indlex-strips thereon; substantially as specifie 3. In a bill-file of the character described, the combination with the file-back, of a springcontrolled clamping-rod provided with an integral lateral bend near its lower end; and a double spring-hook having the hooks facing oppositely, and a space between the'hook-arms to engage the projecting end of the clampingrod, substantially as specified.

1. In a bill-file of the character described, the combination of the file-back, the left side guide-rod, and the slidable, removable and interchangeable index-strips thereon; substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE H. MAURER.

Witnesses:

JOHN L. FLETCHER, D. L. GITT. 

